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Light, Science and the Sublime: The Art and World of Joseph Wright 'of Derby'

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Excellent three week online course from the National Gallery on the art of Wright of Derby to compliment their exhibition on him. Matthew Morgan started in the first week by outlining the artists life and work and giving an overview of how the art market was changing at this time and how artists were reflecting the new ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. He also brought in Lucy Bamford from Derby Museums Trust to discuss why Wright was known as Wright of Derby and to examine his relationship with the city. Morgan spent the next two weeks examining two aspects of Wrights work, how he reflects the rational and how he engaged the emotions. He started with the rational   discussing ideas at the time about the benefits of looking and observation and Rousseau’s ideas around learning by doing and by demonstration. He discussed the circles Wright moved in, including the Lunar Society, and whether we can consider him an Enlightenment artist. Having examined the ...
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Swords of Lucknow

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Interesting small exhibition at the Wallace Collection presenting five swords made in Lucknow from their collection. The swords were shown together at the centre of the room with good explanations of each around the edge. They were beautiful objects both the swords themselves and the scabbards. They were from the 18th and 19th centuries and made as royal regalia and as diplomatic gifts. My favourite was this one which had a beautiful enamel hand on the handle. I also loved the poppy decorations on the scabbard of another sword. Closed 22 March 2026
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Caravaggio’s Cupid

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Brilliant and subtle exhibition at the Wallace Collection presenting Caravaggio's "Victorious Cupid”. The painting, from 1602 is on loan from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, is placed within the context for which is was painted. The introductory room introduces you to Rome at the time and the artist and patron. If you then turn right you enter a subtle recreation of the patron, Vincenzo Guistiniani's gallery of classical sculpture.   At the centre is an Aphrodite from Guistiniani's collection with an invocation of the view from the window of his palace at the far ending showing the church for which Caravaggio had painted his St Matthew paintings. Around the edge are reproductions of engravings of classical subjects. The blurb fails to mention that these were all in the collection and the engravings all come from a catalogue of the collection which I learnt from the lecture I'd done on the painting a few days before. The painting itself is shown in the room to th...
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Caravaggio’s Cupid (talk)

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Excellent online lecture from ARTscapades introducing the exhibition of Caravaggio’s “Cupid” from Berlin and putting the work into context. Richard Stemp elaborated on this two room exhibition which I went to a couple of days after the talk so look for a blog of the show next. His first talk looked at the first room recreating Vincenzo Giustiniani’s sculpture collection. He used this to explain where Caravaggio was in his career at this point and his relationship with various patrons including the Guistiniani brothers. He explained how the engravings reproduced around the walls were from the catalogue of the collection by the curator of the collection, Joachim van Sandrart in the 1630s. In the second half he moved into the other room which holds the Cupid himself and two sculptures. He put forward some interesting ideas of other works of art which influenced the Cupid and went into some detail about the meaning of the work and precedents for it.   He also discussed how, althou...
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A View of One’s Own: Landscapes by British Women Artists, 1760-1860

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Fascinating exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery looking at landscapes by female artists from 1760-1860. These works were by largely unknown artists working during the first 100 years of the Royal Academy. Some of the works had been shown in the annual shows, held at the time in the building they were now being displayed. There were some beautiful works and fascinating stories from Elizabeth Frances Batty's small works which were engraved and published as "Italian Scenery" in 1820, Mary Smirke who showed at the Royal Academy every year from 1809-1814 despite being hindered by her artist father who was on the hanging committee and Harriett Lister who later worked with her husband, Amos Green, on works which began with an ink blot. There were a number of potential novels in this show. Closes 20 May 2026
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Seurat and the Sea

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Calming exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery looking at late works by Seurat of towns on the North Coast of France. The show brings together 26 paintings, oil sketches and drawings made by the artist during the five summers he spent on the northern coast of France, between 1885 and 1890. They are arranged chronologically with an excellent commentary and in some cases reproductions of postcards of the same scene. It is amazing how he builds such clear and accurate scenes out of dabs of colour. Despite the fact the show was very busy, the paintings had a calming effect, slowing people down with the pastel colours. I'd gone expecting to like the pure seascapes best, but I loved the scenes of coastal towns with signs of modern life. I think my favourite was this one of a busy harbour. Closes 15 May 2026 Reviews Times Guardian
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The National Gallery Artist in Residence Ming Wong: Dance of the Sun on the Water : Saltatio Solis in Aqua

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Thoughtful exhibition at the National Gallery of a video produced by their latest artist in residence, Ming Wong. The exhibition element of this work, inspired by paintings of St Sebastian in gallery, was made up of small screens in a selection of galleries each of which showed a section of the work. There are also showings on certain dates of the complete work in the lecture theatre. Wong draws on paintings of Saint Sebastian combined with the landmark film ‘Sebastiane’ by British filmmaker Derek Jarman. He starts the work walking around the gallery in a suit pierced by arrows musing on how the meaning of paintings alters depending on its location and over time, this then segways into what I assume are preenacted scenes from the film set inside the gallery. I went to see a complete showing and was moved by it despite the two ladies chatting at the back of the auditorium (rude).   If you didn't know the Jarman film it might feel strange being spoken in Latin and the fact it ...
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